Right after the original case was dismissed on November 15, 2010, as “the federal court for the Eastern District of Michigan does not have jurisdiction because RSI did not conduct business on a continuous basis here”, Dow Corning refiled the suit in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, by Friday, November 19, 2011.

RSI returned fire March 7 with allegations that Dow Corning tried to steal RSI’s secrets under the guise of striking a partnership with the Forks company.

In its counter lawsuit, RSI says it never obtained trade secrets from XYZ Co., but when Dow Corning learned that RSI had contacted XYZ, the larger company proposed a partnership.

When Dow Corning representatives visited RSI’s plant, they refused to discuss the partnership, but insisted that RSI share the company’s process and demanded a tour of the facility, the counter suit says.

When I read the RSI Silicon counterclaim, I also found point 26 interesting:

As part of its efforts to obtain information about RSI and to hinder and prevent RSI from competing with Dow Corning, Dow Corning also retained the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (“Gibson Dunn”), which had been provided confidential information regarding RSI’s solar-grade silicon work by RSI pursuant to a confidentiality agreement with potential RSI investors as far back as 2006.

An unidentified Dow Corning vendor tipped off Dow Corning officials in August after an officer of RSI allegedly contacted the vendor to discuss “a research and development project relating to purification of solar-grade silicon,” court records show.

“Without knowledge of Dow Corning’s trade secret purification methodology and equipment, a solar-grade silicon manufacturer would have no reason to contact a vendor … to aid in research and development work,” Debold wrote in the complaint that seeks injunctive relief and damages in excess of $75,000.

RSI is involved in developing solar-grade silicon but has no apparent reason to tap the vendor in question outside of replicating Dow Corning’s “trade secret purification methodology and equipment,” Debold claims.

Contacting the vendor “was unusual and illogical based on the purification methodology and equipment that (RSI) claims to use and which is disclosed in (RSI’s) patent … ,” according to court files.

The incident that grabbed Dow Corning’s attention occurred several months ago when RSI was shopping for a spin caster, a machine used to take impurities out of stainless steel, gold and other materials, Resnick said.

“When you’re in the market for something as common as that, all you do is go to (the Thomas) Register to find out who makes it, call them and ask if they have it in stock and if you can buy it,” Resnick said.

“It’s a generic piece of equipment that is not involved in our production in any way, shape or form.”

Resnick said RSI called five companies around the country before renting a spin caster from a company in New Jersey.

By accessing PACER, I learned multiple motions by Dow Corning to dismiss the RSI Silicon counterclaim have thus far been denied. An in person settlement conference is scheduled for October 4, 2011, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, before Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin. Meanwhile, a “Protective Order shall govern the handling of all documents and information exchanged by the Parties in this action.”

A spin caster or a red herring?A spin caster utilizes centrifugal force to produce light metal castings from a rubber mold. Suitable for casting materials with low melting points, the equipment is not designed to operate with silicon metal melting above 1410.0 °C!

Understanding there may be posturing and positioning within the allegations and counterclaims by both parties, is it a stretch to think a spin caster might be a plausible though inaccurate way to describe a similar process, centrifugal casting, capable of silicon directional solidification in theory? While this may be pure speculation, Gibson Centri Tech Limited is an example of a company manufacturing industrial strength Centrifugal Casting Machines to order as demonstrated in a promotional animation.

The speculation will only be put to rest if the identity of XYZ Co. is revealed.

Dow Corning did not even acknowledge my questions about the litigation.

One comment

Following something of a pattern, Amendola has already moved on to bigger and better things in a completely unrelated field. His venture prior to RSI was Millenium Cell, a publicly traded fuel cell company that declared bankruptcy in 2008.

Surprising that Dow Corning – the quintessential partnering company and silicon expert – would take the time to pursue something like this. But, they do know their stuff. It is a wild guess, but perhaps there was an issue of an asset sale upon dissolution that could put technology in the hands of someone else.

Not surprising, of course, that Dow Corning would not comment on an active legal matter.